Robert West Wyman

WYMAN, ROBERT WEST Smithfield, N.C. Robert West Wyman, M.D., died at home of a heart attack on October 18 in Smithfield, NC. Bob was born in Flint, MI, June 8, 1941 to the late Dr. John S. and Winifred West Wyman. He grew up in Flint, outside Grand Blanc, and in Ann Arbor. He graduated from Ann Arbor High School 1959, University of Michigan LS&A 1963, and School of Medicine 1967. He married Barbara Morris of Birkenhead, England in July 1967. Two days after their son was born in October 1968, Bob was sent to Vietnam as Captain in the U.S. Air Force. He served as medical officer with the U.S. Army's 1st Cavalry, was awarded a Bronze Star and Air Medal, and was honorably discharged in 1970. The family located in Smithfield, NC, where Bob was an ER physician at Johnston Memorial Hospital. He and Barbara divorced in 1973. In 1974 Bob married Anne Peed, of Selma, NC, with whom he had two daughters. From 1974-1992 he was in private practice in Selma, often treating patients who weren't insured, couldn't afford to pay, or had been turned away elsewhere. He and Anne divorced in 2001. Achievements came early: an impressive butterfly collection by 9th grade; at AAHS he was tennis team captain and 1st chair trombone. The summer after high school, he and his brother Jack rode their bikes 1,349 miles from Ann Arbor to Boston, via Sault Ste Marie and Montreal: he kept that bike all his life. A member of the U-M Marching Band, he was actually complimented by its ferociously tough conductor, William D. Revelli: a rare event indeed! He played in Dixieland bands into his 60s. Despite years of treatment, he suffered from increasing depression in later years, probably exacerbated by his war experiences. Nevertheless, he always remained a kind and gentle man. Bob was justifiably very proud of his kids: Robert (Stephanie), of Virginia Beach, VA, Julie (Greg) Baker, of Wake Forest, NC, and Becky (Robert) Owens, of Culver City, CA, plus his five grandkids. He leaves his brother Jack (Dody) of Manchester, MI, and his niece and nephews Laura Pemberton of Tecumseh, Ted of Ann Arbor, and Andrew of St Louis (all Ann Arbor natives). A memorial service was held October 22 in Selma, with his trombone front and center. Inurnment will be next summer in Ann Arbor, near his parents and grandparents at Forest Hill Cemetery.